Da bidness

The always charming Felicia Sullivan charmingly rants about her slush pile. Like F, I particularly relish harrassing emails from folks I've had to turn down--as well as the ones that come from folks so sure they'll be turned down they harrass me in advance! And I cherish the cranky correspondents especially that misspell my name or refer to me as "Sir." I'd also like to add to Felicia's list the Crazy: the writer who really should be seeking psychiatric treatment rather than literary recognition, and the Repeat Offender: the writer who has already been rejected so many times that an envelope with his name on it (uh, haven't met a woman who does this...yet) actually elicits groans when it arrives. I've even been commanded by one writer (from whom I was forced to accept the worst single poem I have ever published) to send multiple copies of an issue to various agents and book editors on his behalf after it was printed. As if!

Tom Hop also has a few related words of wisdom to share, from both sides of the slush.

Dear editors everywhere, you are all insane to put up with such abusive, narcissistic, delusional, pathetic, ungrateful bastards. Good on ya.